God created the animals first. Then he said,
Let us make humankind in our image.
According to our likeness. He spoke to them as kin
and said Should we give them this chance?
Together they chose the word dominion.
The animals gave us permission to play
one role in a world they’d already built,
regardless of us. And dominion,
from the Latin dominium, see dominical,
you’ll find it’s just an adjective for Christ-like.
To be in dominion is to be in service,
a simple title, an act of love.
God and the animals trusted us
to be gentle in the love of dominion.
These days, they watch our crass
stomping around and wonder about
our joylessness. Where in the world did we get it?
And why do we carry it around when gravity
graces us so much forgiveness. Rest now, they sing
in the air and the sea, for what is reward
without joy? They know we have forgotten love,
which is the same as forgetting the Lord’s real name.
Patiently, they watch us, the bees and the cats
the dogs and the clover mites, all wait by our tiny chests
as we rise and fall, up and down, in and out
against the brims of life, of coffee cups, our steering wheels,
and bathtub boats just hopping across creation
like we’re big. Screaming like we can live without love.
They are always in conversation about us.
Where are they going? The animals and God
blow wind, and sand, and so many sounds around
the earth as if to ask louder than they ever have
What on earth is all this fighting for?
